I recently saw a posting (by Wray) about small thumbnail dies for a Heck nibbler... Some dies had been made (and evidently used successfully) by fellow metal artisans Carey Culpepper &amp; Ben van Berlo.

In order to make a long story short, quite sometime ago I purchased a Heck 4A nibbler with the same darn idea in mind... thumbnail shrinking. This came about due to the fact that I simply don't have the floor space for the much larger Pullmax or Trumpf machines. The Heck's very small "footprint", robust cast iron construction, 16" deep throat and 2 HP 1140 rpm motor seemed like something worth experimenting with for use as a thumbnail shrinker.

After reading Wray's post, it seems illogical to re-invent the wheel (or in this case, Heck thumbnail shrinking dies) without first asking on the forum: Would either Carey, Ben or anyone one else who already has been down this particular "Heck nibbler conversion path" entertain the thought of selling your "proven" set of Heck nibbler thumbnail dies to me?

Besides selling some dies, would any MetalMeet member be interested in sharing info about: rpm, method used to set shut height, etc when using the Heck nibbler as a shrinker? (Also, I've been wondering about: detrimental effects of adding a frequency inverter/foot pedal speed control, designing an "adjustable height" bottom die holder, etc).

Thanks y'all for a great site!
Rob

Wray Schelin

04-11-2004, 01:16 PM

Hi Rob,

Here is a picture of Ben's dies.

http://www.metalmeet.com/photopost/data/3089/13Shrinking_dies-med.jpg

Ben used his small dies in a Pullmax, Carey's were a little bit bigger and he used them in his Heck.

Use the search function and you will find a lot of other information on the site about thumnail dies and how to make them.